Dark current from the surface state, of a silicon wafer is a dominate noise source in solid state imagers. Surface states can be passivated by hydrogen in molecular or atomic form. Atomic hydrogen is more effective in passivating the surface state than molecular hydrogen. Atomic hydrogen can be introduced into the oxide through hydrogen ion implantation or from hydrogenated amorphous Si gate electrodes. However, these approaches have problems such as process-induced radiation damages and complexities in setting up the process.